[ RadSafe ] Disruption of medical isotope supply

[Franta, Jaroslav]

Regarding,

"I am mused at how surprised many have been that there IS only one source."

.....there was a possibility of having another source, using the Fast Flux Test Facility (FFTF).
I suspect that keeping people ignorant was an important part in the campaign to permanently shut down and decommission FFTF.

and regarding,

"If you are waiting for DOE or the federal government to ride in and save the day........."

....well, DoE was behind the push to nix FFTF, despite arguments in favor of using it for radiopharmaceuticals source production of all types, not just Mo99.
You can thank DoE for making sure the pro-FFTF argument was ignored, and pushing ahead with irreversible decommissioning activities quickly, so that there was no chance of changing their decision no matter how quickly people smartened up.

Likewise, with the loss of advanced fuel testing capability at FFTF, DoE "saved the day" by giving contracts to France, who operate a similar reactor (Phoenix).


Jaro
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^


-----Original Message-----
From: radsafe-bounces at radlab.nl [mailto:radsafe-bounces at radlab.nl]On
Behalf Of Christopher W. Becker
Sent: December 6, 2007 11:35 AM
To: radsafe at radlab.nl
Subject: RE: [ RadSafe ] Disruption of medical isotope supply


All,

I usually don't chime in to these BUT.  There are a limited number of
"higher" power research and test reactors (NRC verbiage for non-power
producing reactors) in the United States.

Massachusetts Institute of Technology
University of Missouri - Columbia
National Institute of Standards and Technology - Gaithersburg
High Flux Isotope Reactor - Oak Ridge (DOE)
Idaho National Laboratory - Idaho (DOE)
Sandia National Laboratory - New Mexico (DOE)

Although, one or two of them generate isotopes in some areas, I am not aware
of any of them pursuing Molly-99 for a variety of reasons (technical and
financial).  The lack of a second source should have been a known issue for
years.  I am mused at how surprised many have been that there IS only one
source. If you are waiting for DOE or the federal government to ride in and
save the day.........

Now Nordian has been making plans for a new reactor to supply this and other
materials.....but there are some big problems with the design (can you say
positive reactivity feeback).

So........if you were surprised this time......

Christopher W. Becker



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